I have 4.88s with 33s and wish I had gone with 5.29s. If you ever drive a fully loaded truck up at elevation 7,000+ feet, you will wish you had 5.29s to...LOL

and a supercharger.

 

Thats what I figured, I carry a lot of weight and its only going to get heavier.

 

That's an option for the rear, but I haven't seen that for the front end. I also think the onboard air is a bit of a perk with the ARB.

But for everyone saying now that they want the 5.29's, how much actual highway driving to you do? I drive at 80mph quite often at 5000 ft

 

Its not the speed. Its the hill climbs. I have rock sliders, skid plates, heavy front and rear bumpers, winch with steel cable, high lift, OBA, tools, spare axle, wife, 2 kids, carseats, dog, fridge.....you begin to see the picture. My truck is very heavy loaded out for road trips. That and driving through mountain passes in California, Utah, and Colorado at 35 mph at 5500rpm made me wish for a little more gearing. All that weight up at 7000' + made for some interesting driving.

 

I def do a bunch of highway driving... and I do enjoy driving fast in the mountains... but now my concern is, will these 5.29 gears be good all around: wheelin', driving wild on the streets, towing, and highway speeds... I guess I should have included my task and purpose. Task: determine a gear ratio and brand to use on my 2000 T4R 3.4L 5spd uparmored Purpose: to know the best all around gear ratio to use for my truck to ensure I have a renaissance capable T4R... thanks for the future inputs

 

This thread has taken off! I still dont feel like you have addressed 285'2 32.8" tires with 4.88's. I like my 4.88 295 combo just fine, I get 17 mpg on average but don't deal with elevations often.

A

 

That's interesting because I'm getting about 17-18 mpg highway with 285's AT and 4.10's.

So to specify, obviously the lower gears (5.29) are better for the weight/hills, but for someone doing a lot of highway cruising in addition to occasional wheeling, 4.88 is in the best interest for keeping 75-80 on the highway?

 

is there a similar thread that talks about 4.88 with 33s in a manual 4cyl?

 

Get 5.29s, I ran them with 33's in my 4banger 4runner

 

I saw this on the front page again and figured I would chime in.

Okay, so here you go:

A/T, 5.29s, 33s. @ 80mph you will be pulling 3016rpms

A/T, 4.88s, 33s @ 80mph you will be pulling 2782 rpms

M/T, 5.29s, 33s @ 80mph you will be pulling 3663 rpms

M/T, 4.88s, 33s @ 80mph you will be pulling 3379 rpms

So, compare it to stock:

A/T 4.30 gears, 265s @ 80mph 2610rpms

A/T 4.10 gears, 265s @ 80mph 2489rpms

M/T 4.30 gears, 265s @ 80mph 3169 rpms

M/T 4.10 gears, 265s @ 80mph 3022 rpms

And, if you want to calculate it yourself, here you go:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/multirpmcalc.html

FWIW, I now run 37s with the new rig. Solid axles with Land Cruiser 3rds in each axle. 5.29s and I still have the auto. I installed the Supercharger when it was down for the build up.

So, my new current setup is running 2690 rpms & 80mpg. The supercharger makes a major difference. And, the lack of having the front end turning 24/7 helps too. Without it I would be pretty unhappy with the setup though.